Will Anticipation for the BlackBerry Q10 Hurt Z10 Sales?

Research in Motion Ltd. reports its fourth-quarter earnings early tomorrow morning, bringing to a close the first quarter that the company’s next-generation BlackBerry, the Z10, has been on the market.

But the BlackBerry Q10 — which has a built-in keyboard – isn’t expected until April or May, a staggered launch that has irked some long-time BlackBerry fans and could hamper RIM’s earnings this quarter and the following quarter.

RIM is in a tight spot here. Coming out with the all-touchscreen Z10 first was meant to give the company’s new BlackBerry 10 operating system a chance to catch on with loyalists and non-BlackBerry users.

But the phone is in direct competition with devices like Samsung’s Galaxy S III and Apple’s iPhone 5, both of which have been on the market for months and have been piling up the sales.

Samsung’s next Galaxy, the S 4, is expected to launch right on the Z10’s heels. The rumor mill was already churning for the Galaxy S 4 ahead of the Z10′s launch — it’s quite possible that some consumers opted to delay their purchases in anticipation of the Galaxy S 4.

Many die-hard BlackBerry fans, however, could be waiting for the keyboard-equipped phone, and may delay purchasing a BlackBerry until the Q10 launch later this spring.

This “delay” effect is one that even Apple has had to deal with. Here’s what Apple CEO Tim Cook said during the company’s last earnings call in regard to the impending launch of the iPad Mini:

It’s clear customers delayed purchase of a new tablet because of product rumors. Some of that was anticipated and some of it I wish wouldn’t occur, but it did occur.

We’ll get some more insight during the earnings call tomorrow as to whether RIM will be able to sustain a marketing blitz for the Z110 and whether consumers are actually buying it.

Be sure to join Digits for live coverage of the earnings call, starting at 8 a.m. ET.